During your online election you should:
Remind your members of key dates and deadlines
After you have announced the election and timetable to your members, it's important to send reminders of key dates and deadlines to maximise the likelihood of filling your positions.
We'd recommend sending reminder emails including:
- Nominations are now open!
- Nominations close tomorrow!
- Nominations close today at [XXX] time
- Voting has now opened!
- Voting closes today at [XXX] time
- Results are in!
Hold hustings
You may want to hold hustings alongside your online election. This is an opportunity for your candidates to tell your members why they should be elected, and for members to ask appropriate questions.
You might want to host an online hustings via Zoom, Microsoft Teams or other free video conferencing platforms.
Answer member queries
You may get questions at any point during your election - from how do I nominate myself? to what is a 'seconder'? - it's useful to know how to manage this.
- eVoting error/issue: candidate can't nominate or vote
- Positions on eVoting are 'wrong' or 'missing'
- Terminology or jargon query e.g. 'seconder'
- Complaint about candidate conduct (breach of rules)
For all of the above you can direct candidates to contact The Elections Team.
Complaints
Any member of the Union is able to submit a complaint during an election regarding:
- The conduct of candidates
- A candidates' supporters (including a candidates' campaigns team)
- A candidates' campaign
- The administration of the election
All complaints for the CSP Online Elections are to be directed to the Imperial Elections Team via elections@imperial.ac.uk
Complaints will be reviewed by the Deputy Returning Officer (DRO). The DRO will make a decision whether or not to uphold your complaint, and issue a sanction to the candidate(s).
Encourage members to vote
Did you know that candidates can vote for themselves?
It's important to encourage your members to vote so they can have a say in how your CSP is run next year and by who! Equally candidates must meet a quota; this is the number of votes they need to be elected.
Voting
It is important that voting is conducted via the most appropriate method, the Union’s eVoting platform uses the Single Transferrable Vote (STV) and we encourage CSPs to use this method too whilst doing in-person elections.
You can read our guidance on how to calculate STV here.
Do you need help?
Visit the elections FAQ - here
Management Group Committee/ Constituent Union Commitee: Your MG Chair/CU Committee is trained to help you with this topic. Please find your relevant contact here
Union Email Contact: activities@imperial.ac.uk
Training Week: A session was delivered on this topic during our Training Week, please find the recording and slides here.
121 Session: Available for this topic, book here
